there are those who say that more use is better, and a 9 year old car that has never had a proper run will actually be suffering from significant deterioration. e.g perished plastic and rubber components, water condensate damage inside engine and fluids etc.

I don't know how realistic this is. Maybe get it looked over by a friendly mech and take it from there.

Pretty good cars and should be fine. Fords dont like standing, so may need some suspension bushes etc. Just bought a 2001 1.6 zetec from my daughter and she loves it. Later engine( black top) is the pick of the bunch and was a joint venture with Yamaha and are great engines. Just look for rust in doors and boot lid, as they do like to rust sadly. £1500 is wishful thinking. I got a good deal on my daughters at £1100 with 67k miles on it. Do a valuation on what car, its free.

I've got a 2004 1.6 Focus can't fault it other than needing a new coil pack a couple of years ago and 2 new springs last year it's been very reliable in the 7 years i've had it, though it is boring to drive.

2L petrol will be expensive to tax, insure & run fuel wise. Loved my 1.8, but they aren't perfect, & I myself would be unsure about an old under used one like that (m8 blew up a low mileage/older car). I do recommend the focus, but not the 2L petrol, no advantage over the 1.8

I think it sounds ace, and I'd not be too worried about the low mileage. However, You'll need to factor in an immediate service and possibly new tyres. At only 11000 miles, it's likely still on its first set of tyres which are now 9 years old.

Ah - yes - that would be a no. The saloons are awful, and the auto gearbox just seals the deal - avoid.
I had a 54 plate TDCI for a year - lovely car. More fun to drive than the 07 Golf we had at the same time.

2.0 petrol auto will be heavy on the juice. Salon isn't really what you want for biking.
But a Focus is a good motor and they handle well and are cheap to fix.
If you like why not, you won't lose on a 11K mile car that old @ £1.5K